In case do not live anywhere near Storrs, Conn. or Washington, D.C. (or anywhere in between, for that matter), Green went to Georgetown and Gay went to the best school in the country, UConn. They are, and will always be, Big East basketball rivals.

You don’t just leave college behind when you go to the NBA. Michael Jordan used to wear his UNC basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls shorts for every game. Your university becomes a part of you, and you must show pride in it at all times. This argu-Tweet goes to show that even after leaving school and making millions of dollars in the NBA, these athletes still know their roots and will continue to show their college colors.

Never graduate.

For sticking it to Jeff Green and to the Georgetown faithful, Rudy Gay receives the A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week”.

I didn’t like Kevin Durant in college. I thought he was too small, too lanky, and too raw. I thought his game was great for college competition but was unpolished and would not translate to the NBA. I also thought he was arrogant. Today, I am willing to admit I was wrong on all accounts.

His game has gotten much better; and much more quickly than I could have imagined. He can cut to the basket, hit a mid-range jump shot, drive the lane, and hit the open guy with a pass. He is leading a very young and very talented Oklahoma City Thunder team into the 2009-2010 season with a lot of confidence. He is also very friendly and open to his fans (via Twitter).

The other day he had a “Q&A” session through his Tweets. Fans sent him a message and he would post his reply. I have no idea how many questions were sent to him or how many he was able to answer, but my feed was polluted with Kevin Durant trivia.

Fans asked him things like: what’s the weirdest thing someone asked you to autograph? (a baseball); what has been your best NBA moment? (a game-winning shot against the Atlanta Hawks his rookie season); who is your favorite rapper? (Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne); what is your shoe size? (18); what position did you play in high school? (center); and when the Thunder make the playoffs, can you hook me up with three tickets? (of course).

I thought this was amazing. I got to know things about Kevin that I may have never been able to find out. News articles and interviews on television only go so far. Most athletes are so image-conscious that they never open up fully to the media. Twitter has allowed the athletes themselves to control the information the public receives. We, the fans, benefit from that more than anyone. Then I read this question and answer:

Kevin would have been here my freshman year, when the Huskies were transitioning from that terrible George Mason loss in the Elite 8. He would have been here the one year we didn’t even make the God-forsaken NIT. He would have been on the court with A.J. Price, Craig Austrie, a raw and lanky Hasheem Thabeet, and Jeff “I’ll eat your children at half-time while smiling” Adrien. What a line-up that would have been!!! We wouldn’t have needed to put Dougie “No Brakes or Steering” Wiggins in the game at all. And, we could have brought along Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson slowly and develop their game so that they reach their immense potential.

You would have walked down the same streets as I do, ate in the same dining hall, “attended” the same classes, chased the same women. We would have been at the same parties, laughed at the same jokes, chant the same chants. We would have become best friends. But no, you went to Texas.

Could you at least send me some autographed merchandise or something?!?!?!

I have to be honest – most of the stuff that comes out of Marcus Williams’ Twitter account is nonsense; illiterate, ignorant, ridiculous nonsense. Take these for example:

“A chick ever sent u a pic of herself and her room was dirty but u ezpass it cuz she look good? Hehehe”

or

“Do baseball players have groupies? I wouldn’t know who the 1st basemen from the dodgers was if he walked right in front of me”

or

“Lmao if u remotely fart by someone’s face, it can get very funny if ur just a witness…”

or

“I HATE ppl that follow me and don’t reply to nothin. Its quite creepy, cuz u just in the cut being nosey. Like u in the bushes nearby”

or

“I have the most retweetable tweets”

You see my point. I mean, is a “verified account”even necessary for him? Recently, however, he had a half-coherent thought and decided to Tweet it. He didn’t attribute the information, nor elaborate on it, but I do believe in its validity.

This is something we’ve talked about all semester in class: how social media platforms are the new newspapers. People hear about something and instantly its on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. etc. and it spreads across the web. I’m not sure what Marcus means by “officially” but I can see what he means. And if he can get it, mainstream media outlets should definitely be able to get it.

For making a valid point on your Twitter account, proving to me you’re not an idiot 24/7, and showing the effects of social media on the news business, Marcus Williams receives this week’s A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week.”

Larry Fitzgerald is an elite wide receiver in the NFL and is one of the most active Twitter-ers in all of sports. He tweets several times a day – comments on football practice, inspirational words or quotes, and feedback to fans that tweet him. I like to read his updates almost as much as I like to watch him terrorize his opponent’s secondary, but one of his tweets this past week really grabbed my attention and motivated me to act.

The “twibbon” Larry is advocating for is a pink breast cancer ribbon that appears in the lower left hand corner of your Twitter Avatar. It shows up whenever you tweet and shows your followers that you support breast cancer survivors, victims and/or research. Twibbons can be used to show a variety of different things on your avatar- from your favorite baseball team to your favorite brand of coffee.

The NFL, along with other professional sport leagues, have designated days to show support for breast cancer research. In baseball, players wear pink gloves and use pink bats. In basketball, a pink ribbon is painted on the court for the game. In football, players wear pink cleats and coaches wear pink hats.

Breast cancer research has come a long way and with the help of social media and big name advocates it can go a lot further. For supporting breast cancer research on and off the field (and on social media), Larry Fitzgerald is honored with A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week.”

Texas Tech head football coach does not understand social media. More specifically, he does not understand the purpose and importance of Twitter.

Mike Leach has banned all of his football players from using the social media platform Twitter after he was called out by one of his linebackers, Marlon Williams, for being late to a meeting.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Williams asked on his Twitter account why he was still in a meeting room when “the head coach can’t even be on time.” That tweet has been deleted and his page no longer exists, according to an article by ESPN.

Not only has he banned Twitter use for his team, Leach has pretty much made a mockery of the entire Twitter population, calling them “narcissists.” He added that if his players didn’t get enough attention already, he would be willing to put mirrors in their lockers.

Leach should take a page out of USC head football coach Pete Carroll’s book and embrace Twitter. Carroll tweets multiple times a day about a wide variety of things; from where he’s going to eat, to what he’s watching on television, to boasting about his former players’ success in the NFL. But an event that happened in the past week has shown how different his view about Twitter is to Leach’s.

Pete Carroll

After his running back Stafon Johnson had a freak weight-lifting accident that required emergency throat surgery, Carroll encouraged Johnson to create a Twitter account to interact with fans who want to give him their support and prayers during his recovery. Johnson joined Twitter on September 30 and at the time of this publishing, he had over 7,000 followers.

One coach not only bans all his players from using it but makes fun of the use Twitter whereas another not only uses it but has encouraged one of his players to use the site to connect with fans.

So, are Twitter users narcissists? Absolutely not. Leach is delusional and uniformed. For exposing one man’s ignorance and arrogance about Twitter, Marlon Williams receives the A.Martin Sports “Tweet of the Week.”

The second ever A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week” comes from Tour de France living legend and cancer-survivor Lance Armstrong. Much respect is due to him for those two facts alone. He is a man among boys, a true American hero, and an inspiration to millions. Aside from all that, a tweet of his this past week has showed me what being a man is all about; on the internet.

Wow! Way to make a stand on a very controversial topic in social media. Armstrong, infamous for technically only being “half” a man (no disrespect intended), has called out the rest of his gender for using the smiling emoticon when chatting on the internet.

What does this all mean? Well, to most guys, absolutely nothing. However, to some guys, like my friend Frank Spinelli, this new “guy code” will shake up their internet world! Spinelli was trying to start a revolution of smiling emoticon use among men, but this blunt position by Armstrong has slammed the door shut on said revolution.

Posting something like “No but really tho. I apologize for the vulgar lingo on ur facebook page. I love u. 🙂 blood. I love u too. 🙂 the rest of the league. I love u too 🙂 :-)” (actual quote) to one’s fantasy football board is no longer acceptable for “dudes”.

Even subtle uses like “hehe :-)” (actual quote) are now frowned upon.

Let me be the first to applaud Armstrong on taking a stance. Let me also be the first to follow in his internet-foot steps. This blog’s official stance on male use of the smiling emoticon is to never use it.

Whether or not the use of the smiling emoticon was ever acceptable for guys to use on the internet is irrelevant at this point. Armstrong has made that abundantly clear; in 140 characters or less. That is why Lance Armstrong is the recipient of A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week.”

I think we as students of UConn should get the option of ordering HBO in our dorms, suites, and/or apartments. You could even charge it to our fee bill. We want Entourage. We want Weeds. We want the big boxing matches. We want Mayweather v. Marquez.

Unfortunately, we do not get it. Any of it. I did find a couple websites that were streaming it online but neither had decent quality nor was in English. However, thanks to some of my friends on Twitter, I was able to follow the fight online through tweets.

rudygay22 At the fight yall! Who yall have winning? (Rudy Gay, Memphis Grizzlies)

shawnemerriman Yessssss i got the fight in my hotel room lets go Floyd!!he came out the aggressor i like it (Shawne Merriman, San Diego Chargers)

CV31 Watching the Mayweather-Marquez fight, I give it to Mayweather in the 6th Round. He’s still has the sharp quickness. Any takers? (Charlie Villanueva, Detroit Pistons)